Dear Riccardo,

I think that this will be the last email to OPE-L regarding the issue we were debating about. Unfortunately, I have to recognize that, except you, none of OPE-L subscribers, who judged and somehow condemned me before my email, has felt appropriate to reply to my few, although necessary, clarifications. To admit one’s own mistakes is always very difficult. Nevertheless, I have to thank the moderators of OPE-L for having given me the chance to reply. I would be very glad to send additional messages in the case anyone of the subscribers will reply to one of my emails.

On the other hand, the exchange of ideas with you is always welcome, of course.

In this letter, I will limit myself in writing few considerations about your last letter [OPE-L 7362]

First of all, I believe it is not useful in any respect to keep on discussing about my caustic style against Giussani. This style was provoked by the offensive and insulting attitude of this guy against me and the workers of Operai Contro association. In his public letters against the first issue of the journal “Quaderni di Operai Contro”, Giussani preferred the insults and the calumnies to the theoretical debate. My character and the nature of the political motivations that lead us to publish the Quaderni of Operai Contro, constrained us not to withdraw from the debate as Gerald Levy has suggested in his message (OPE-L 7143). In this respect, it must be said that, although we replied him in kind, we made all possible efforts to keep on discussing on theory.

As far as the choice of criticizing Pala and Giussani instead of academic Marxist is concerned, let me tell you that I don’t agree with your opinion. First of all, I don’t attack someone only because he is a University professor. I know for sure that University professors as social group are on the side of capitalist. The dominant ideology is always the ideology of the dominant class. However, this does not exclude the possibility that a minority of people belonging to this group of thinkers could be on the side of workers. It is not the more or less marginal connection with the academic world a good reason to give up the criticism. The decisive factor which has driven us in criticizing Pala and Giussani is the fact that they are representatives in Italy of the Marxist tendency we called Algebraic Marxism. This political trend was rather active in Italy in the years when the articles published in Quaderni of Operai Contro were written. Pala started at that time the publication of the journal “La Contraddizione”, while Giussani was the inspirer of a Marxist discussion group in Milan. The criticism to the theoretical positions of Pala and Giussani was an attempt to induce marxist thinkers to change their orientation. We wanted and we still want to push Marxist thinkers to confront their theoretical positions with the positions expressed by workers that are struggling to reach their independence from the other classes. Marxists who refuse to make this confrontation are representatives of that Marxist separated from workers which I discussed about in the last letter. A Marxism that wants only to (badly) interpret the world. Interestingly enough, Giussani has publicly declared that as far his opinion is concerned there is no connection between Marx value theory and the workers uprising. Saying that, he has clearly shown the we were right in criticizing him.

You also mentioned that there are positive contributions given by Pala and Giussani. I can’t exclude that there may be some. However, I believe that, if they exist, they are of secondary importance. In this respect, I have to say that I definitely know almost everything they have published and I don’t have met any idea I can completely agree with. I am sure that here you are not referring to (as Rakesh Bhandari in OPE-L 7156 does) Giussani’s writings on the value of labour force, where Giussani reported very questionable positions. In any case, even if we assume that these positive contributions really exist, I don’t see how this affects the substance of the criticisms I made against him and Pala. If you don’t agree with that let me know of it. I will glad to discuss this issue with you.

Andrea Vitale